Romney: Dragged-out primary will affect general election fundraising

2/6/12 6:38 PM EST

Mitt Romney, in an interview with the Scott Hennen radio show, suggested the Republicans will suffer a fundraising shortfall if the GOP nomination fight drags out:

"Most likely, the party regulars will surround one of the people who they think has the best chance of beating Barack Obama, and start raising money for the general election. Of course, he’s doing that already. He and the Democratic Party have raised some $200 million. Of course, each of the four of us that are still in the race are raising money for our primaries. So at some point, we’ll have to pick our person and start raising money so we can compete with Barack Obama. Otherwise, we’ll be massively outspent.”

Romney, of course, has outraised his opponents in the GOP field dramatically, with roughly $20 million in cash on hand at the end of the last fundraising quarter.